‘Laughing stock of the world’: MPs debate Iraq Inquiry delay

Ministers debated why the official Iraq war inquiry is so severely delayed on Thursday. Head of the inquiry, Sir John Chilcot, says his final report will not be published until after May’s general election.

The Commons debate is
the first in which MPs specifically discussed the delay.
Ministers have voiced their frustration over the repeated
deferral of the publication date.

The Chilcot Inquiry, which began in 2009, examines the UK’s
involvement in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

During the debate, Welsh MP Elfyn Llwyd warned that delays to the
inquiry could turn Westminster into “the laughing stock of
the world.”

“It's an insult to Parliament but more important it's a gross
offence to those people who've lost loved ones out in Iraq and to
the people of Iraq itself,” said Llwyd.

“Democracy, I think, demands that something is done urgently
otherwise this parliament will be the laughing stock of the
world.”

David Davis MP warned: “When decisions such as those that
were made in Libya, Syria and Iraq are made without knowledge of
all the facts, mistakes are made and sometimes people die as a
result. So it is not hyperbole to say that the delay to the Iraq
inquiry could cost lives because bad decisions could be
made.”

Davis said no one knows why the publication has been delayed to
such an extent, as very little information about it is in the
public domain.

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw, who held office between 2001
and 2006, said no decision he has made as a minister was more
serious than to support military action against the Saddam
Hussein regime and to actively advocate that course.

“There was never the remotest suggestion from anyone, nor
anticipation, that this report would not be out well before the
2015 general election,” he added.

Chilcot will give evidence at the Foreign Affairs Committee on
February 4 to explain the final report’s delay and why it won’t
be published before the general election.

He has said there is “no realistic prospect” of the
report being released before the general election on May 7.

On Tuesday, Chilcot said “We are conscious of our
responsibility – to the public and to all those whose lives have
been deeply affected by the events we are examining – to
discharge our duty thoroughly, impartially and fairly.”

In a statement, the inquiry said “It had worked in strict
confidence in the course of drafting its report.” It also
reiterated its position “that it would not give a running
commentary on its work.”

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he was frustrated by the
delay, but said the inquiry was independent of government and
that he should not interfere.

In May 2014, Cameron said he hoped the inquiry would publish its
findings by Christmas last year. However, he seemed to backtrack
last month, saying “I’m not in control of when this report is
published. It is an independent report; it is very important that
these sort [sic] of reports are not controlled or timed by the
government.”

The UK's top civil servant, Sir Jeremy Heywood, has urged MPs not
to push for a subpoena of the report or the publications of some
of its findings before May 7.

Sir Jeremy however said all correspondence between former Prime
Minister Tony Blair and ex-US President George W. Bush requested
by the inquiry would be published.